FreeSnake59

I always said that being morbidly obese had hundreds of different small inconveniences and downsides that just added up every day. 150+ lbs down and I have a whole list, some things I didn’t even realize were possible
Fitting into my wedding rings
Wearing straight size clothing, and being able to actually wear hot weather clothing
My thighs not rubbing against each other
Feeling energized and athletic, and excited to do things instead of dreading what I can’t do. I don’t feel exhausted by just hauling around my body all day.
Not being humiliated by pictures of myself
Yes, people treat you better when you’re normal sized. And yes, I’ll probably feel bitter about that forever.
Not having kids ask if I’m pregnant anymore!
And just a million other things. Just small realizations throughout the day of dumb, small stuff. I can fit in this small toilet stall, I can wear high heels and they don’t hurt, I can make a doctor appointment for something and have them take me seriously, etc. I could list things all day.

Surgery and losing the weight is 100% worth it. I still have 21.4 lbs to lose to goal, and even still I feel amazing each day.

On some of these I don't recall if they were a pre-op goal or not:
Health issues resolved; New health issues revealed;
Buying normal sized clothes;
Riding rides (I was way too large). Boy have I ridden the rides;
Getting into a bathtub. With room for my wife;
I wanted to run, just to do it. I ran 5 marathons, one of which was the San Francisco Marathon where I got to run across the Golden Gate bridge;
Chairs no longer vex me. Flying is an option without the belt-extender parade;
Horseback riding with wife on vacation;
Kayaking on vacation;
Sex. There, I said it;
I now do housework and all the cooking;
Rode a bike to work for a few years;
Can tie my own shoes while I am standing;
Honestly, so many things of which I never thought;
I wanted to dance but I still lack rhythm. Weight loss doesn't solve everything;
Kids still make me anxious.
People no longer walk into walls, poles, etc. staring at me.
People don't automatically get out of my way now.
I wanted to dump, and I do. Occasionally it's a real pain in my arse.
Good luck,
Tek

So many! My surgery is in about two weeks and I feel like I need to make a formal list to help get me through any potential rough spots. Here’s what I got so far:

- be able to play tennis with my son
- be able to get off the floor without feeling like I’m going throw every bone and muscle in my body into spasms lol
- fitting comfortably into an airplane seat and not having the person next to me wince as they see me coming
- being able to fit comfortably into amusement park rides
- no longer worrying if a chair will support me
- more mental bandwidth to think of things other than food and my weight (hopefully!)
- shopping in the normal section
- feeling more attractive to my husband and enjoying our time together more
- being excited for vacations vs slightly dreading them because of how uncomfortable I feel about myself and avoiding photos, etc
- feeling confident going anywhere and not constantly worrying about running into someone I haven’t seen in a while

I had low standards lol. For me I was excited to fit into non plus sized clothing (I used to be a 34 in US womens jeans. I'm now a 12), when I had my blood pressure taken at the doctors office I wanted them to be able to take it on my upper arm like a normal person instead of having it on my wrist because it didn't fit my upper arm, when I had to do tests at the doctor's I was looking forward to not having to ask for a plus sized gown anymore, to being able to fit into the back seat of a car again (the seat belt in the back seats used to never fit me. it made family road trips difficult), to being able to sit in a booth at a restaurant again, to not get out of breath walking for more than 5 minutes, etc. Those were all the things I looked forward to most. And I've met all of those goals.

I have an entire list.
- Go off all my meds (BP meds, hormone meds, etc.)
- Maybe lose my CPAP.
- Fit in a kayak.
- Run a sub-10 mile.
- Do a pull-up.
- Go back to being able to ride horses.
- No more seatbelt extenders on airplanes.
- No more sitting down gingerly to see if the chair will hold me.
- Increased mobility (palms on floor)
- No more "we'd like a table, not a booth, please"
There's more but that's the big stuff.

I was most excited to get off some or all of my medicines (Lisinopril for HP, Metformin for Insulin Resistance and PCOS, Hydrochlorothiazide for BP). I also wanted to prevent becoming a Type 2 Diabetic. Sadly during my pre-testing for surgery I discovered I was just over that threshold (6.7).
I had my surgery on May 19th at which time the surgeon took me off the Hydrochlorothiazide. Three weeks later my family doc cut my Lisinopril dosage in half and only once a day vs twice. I'm hoping by next month to be cut down again of the HP meds or maybe even totally off of it and hopefully the Metformin too. And hopefully my A1C has returned to normal too. Fingers crossed.